Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton – Blog Tour Review.

About The Book

Three hours is 180 minutes or 10,800 seconds.

It is a morning’s lessons, a dress rehearsal of Macbeth, a snowy trek through the woods.

It is an eternity waiting for news. Or a countdown to something terrible.

It is 180 minutes to discover who you will die for and what men will kill for.

In rural Somerset in the middle of a blizzard, the unthinkable happens: a school is under siege. From the wounded headmaster in the library, unable to help his trapped pupils and staff, to teenage Hannah in love for the first time, to the parents gathering desperate for news, to the 16 year old Syrian refugee trying to rescue his little brother, to the police psychologist who must identify the gunmen, to the students taking refuge in the school theatre, all experience the most intense hours of their lives, where evil and terror are met by courage, love and redemption.

My Review

With thanks to the publisher for the copy received. Three Hours was a book that affected me deeply. It deals with an armed siege at a school and is told by various points of view. The pupils, their teachers, parents and the police. Everybody apart from the armed men whose identity and reasoning is revealed as you read.

Whilst the siege itself is disturbing it was the reaction of the characters that had me gripped and emotional. The bond between two brothers who had already suffered when fleeing Syria. The teachers trying to protect the younger pupils from danger and keeping them occupied so they didn’t see the danger they were in. This isn’t a book where the children are aware they are in lockdown, they had little idea of their situation. The police in the story didn’t have as much impact on me until near the end when I realised exactly what had happened and I was fearful of what danger some were still in.

It is confusing at times, but I think this was the intent. I can’t imagine any situation like this in real life being straight forward. For either the hostages or the people who are trying to bring the situation to an end. I found some of the terminology upsetting, especially in the last half of the book. More so because it so realistic and there are people among us who feel this way. 

Three Hours was the first book I have read by this author. I will definitely be looking at her earlier books.